It’s all About Government Retirement

By: Lonnie Brennan – (November, 2012)

The year 2011 was a sweet year for some of the 560+ taxpayer-funded employees of the little Town of Georgetown. And salary is just ½ of the issue. Yes, we’re late in posting the information this year, but there’s always time to enjoy the top 12 listing:

Once again, topping the list was School Superintendent Carol Jacobs garnering $174,782.37 total compensation for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011. Light Department Superintendent Wayne Snow took second place at $126,092.55, while High School Principal Peter Lucia came in third at $117,480.32.

Fourth place on the list was Police Chief James Mulligan at $109,461.29, followed by Light Department Linesman Chad Cunningham at $104,794.76, and Police Lt. Donald Cudmore at $99,117.61. School Principle Donna Tanner garnered $98,949.08, Office Kevin DeFeo $96,940.92, Officer Scott Hatch at $96,934.14, Light Department Linesman Kyle Morse at $96,381.65, (beloved) Lt. David Thompson at $96,372.52, and Town Administrator Michael Farrel rounded up the top dozen wage earners at $93,209.35.

But wait, there’s more. Yes, Mr. Farrel hits the bottom of the elite listing, but town hall is closed on Fridays, so he gets a 3-day weekend, every week of the year. Oh, and the future looks even brighter for our town admin., as this year Mr. Farrel – with the passage of ‘the School override’ which temporarily freed up a lot of town cash – garnered a $3,500.00 per year bonus contribution to his personal retirement account which we’ll see reflected in next year’s numbers, courtesy of 4 out of 5 members of the board of selectmen.)

What does it all mean? Well, you have to look at the big picture: retirement pay. At the current projections (assuming continuous pay increases and additional years of 1 to 10 years in service), Carol Jacobs can expect to receive in excess of $100 thousand per year in retirement pay (which hopefully she’ll draw on for 25-30+ years after retirement, or a total of $2.5 -$3 million in taxpayer funds). And the others will see an average of 60% of their salaries or $63,000 per year (or $1.2 to $1.8 million each).

Do you have $1.2 to $1.8 million in your 401K saving account? Just wondering. Well, there’s always Social Security (a fraction of that), perhaps, maybe. Either way, take comfort in knowing that your public employees will be well taken care of in retirement, even if you might be living in relative poverty by comparison.

Tax Increases Coming Soon

We’ve seen our second large Prop 2 ½ tax push-over in as many years, and if you thought the simple $1.2 million increase affected your taxes, just wait until the impact of the approx. $50 million school bonding project ($800-1,500 per household) as it hits next year to pay for round one of the school rebuilding project.

Round one you say? Yes, then there’s the few million for roadwork for the schools and potential traffic lights and such, and the projected $7-8 million bonding (another big loan) for renovations of the high school.

Georgetown is getting expensive, not just the nation: food prices continue to rise, gasoline has doubled in four years, electric bills are just silly, and the water folks charge us $160 per year just to send out the water bills (‘billing fee of $40/quarter added to your usage bill’), and the list of fees and tax increases that others are looking at now is really, really frightening.

Well gang, keep failing to vote, or keep voting for the popular generic cheerleader of spending boys, or just keep watching Idol, non-reality phonier than WWF TV with Snook sluts and such, and keep making sure you don’t pay attention. Have a glass of wine. Chill out. Government is the answer. Half the population doesn’t pay federal income taxes, and the number is rising. Big government comprised of all Democrats, all one mob of big-spenders…Keep it coming.

Lonnie Brennan is a former Georgetown Selectman and candidate for State Representative. He is a republican activist and the founder of GeorgetownToday.org, and VoteCoreValues.org. You can email him at Lonnie@GeorgetownTODAY.org